There are, by my estimation, five types of prayers: prayers of gratitude (thanks), prayers of request (gimme), prayers of supplication (oops), prayers of amazement (wow), and prayers of hope. In this week’s Torah portion, we receive the command to offer a half shekel of silver—no more, no less, and regardless of one’s wealth or lack of it.
This half shekel is given to God for the sake of atonement, making the donation an “oops” prayer. However, this prayer perhaps gives us an important insight into the way in which we offer other prayers. The Torah says, “l’teit et—t’rumah Adonai” hearkening back to the previous parasha, in which the Tabernacle is to be built with offerings of T’rumah—an offering defined as one in which one gives voluntarily and through one’s heart being moved to do so. This is, clearly, an apparent contradiction in that the half-shekel is compulsory.
While the half shekel may be compulsory, the way in which one gives the half shekel is the T’rumah. In other words, how we do something is, according to the Torah, as important as the act of doing it. Prayer is no different. When we pray, we must pray with intention, regardless of whether the prayer is mandatory or one that is completely and fully a T’rumah—an offering of the heart.